U.S. deputy national security adviser Jonathan Finer said early Monday that Iran was “broadly complicit” in the Hamas attack on Israel over the weekend, citing Tehran’s efforts to train and provide the Palestinian militant group with arms.
Finer said Iran “without a doubt” is indirectly responsible for backing and training Hamas, but he said it is not clear whether Tehran was directly involved in the attack.
“In terms of broad complicity, we are very clear about a role for Iran,” Finer told CBS. “What we have not seen yet at this moment, although we are continuing to look at it very closely, is any sort of direct involvement in the immediate attacks.”
Hamas, the Palestinian military and political group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented attack on Israel one day after the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which saw a coalition of Arab forces led by Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack against the Israeli people.
The Hamas invasion was the worst attack on Israel since the Yom Kippur War and has killed hundreds of people in Israel. Fighting has been ongoing since Saturday, and Israel is now launching a major counterattack on Gaza.
It’s unclear how a much smaller coalition of Palestinian armed forces amassed the ability to launch such a devastating attack on Israel, leading some to speculate a greater Iranian involvement.
Iran, which has long funded Hamas, gave the green light to Palestinian forces last Monday, just days before the Saturday attack, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal also reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps helped train Hamas on the operation since at least August and helped prepare and coordinate the invasion.
U.S. officials have yet to confirm that Iran had a direct role in the operation.
Iran has been an enemy of Israel, a major U.S. ally, since the creation of the Israeli state in 1948, and Tehran has long accused Israeli forces of oppressing the Palestinian people.